Accession Numbers

Physical Description

Description

.7 l.f. including performance programs, newspapers, correspondence, photographs, serials, trade catalogs, personal papers, and 105 audio tapes (10" reels) created, collected or recorded by Emmitt D. Crosswhite while he served as judge, participant, and recording manager for the Tennessee Valley Old Time Fiddlers Association in Athens, Alabama.

Date

1934-1994

Provenance

Emmitt D. Crosswhite recorded, collected and compiled these materials himself for personal interest. He donated them to the Center for Popular Music on December 31, 2001.

Agency History/Biographical Sketch

Emmitt D. Crosswhite recorded and collected these materials while he served as a judge, participant, and recording manager for the Tennessee Valley Old Time Fiddlers Association in Athens, Alabama. He was friend and associate to Bill Harrison, who founded the fiddle contest. Crosswhite worked at the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama and recorded the various fiddle contests due to his interests in music.

Scope and Content

The manuscript material in this collection demonstrates Crosswhite’s interest and participation in the Tennessee Valley Old Time Fiddlers Convention (TVOTFC) held at Athens College in Athens, Alabama, among other fiddle contests and conventions. Newspaper issues and clippings make up the majority of the collection and include articles that document fiddle music, musical events, or the fiddling conventions in Alabama, Virginia, Tennessee, Kansas, and North Carolina. Judging criteria and contestant lists, rankings, and winners make up a significant portion of material and document the workings of the contests themselves. An example includes supporting documents for the judging and final winners of the 11th Annual Tennessee Valley Old Time Fiddlers Convention in 1977, consisting of carbon copies according to division with names of contestants and index cards with names, rankings, and song titles listed. Original participant schedules, eliminations, and finals with repertoire are included. A sampling of programs, newsletters, and notices accompany the contests of TVOTFC and others. Correspondence is limited to criticism of the Huntsville Educational Television’s production of the TVOTFC and Crosswhite’s constructive criticism of the “growing pains” of the contest.

Crosswhite’s sound recordings are live, on-stage recordings of the Tennessee Valley Old Time Fiddlers Conventions held at Athens College in Athens, Alabama. The reel-to-reel tapes have been preservation transferred and logged by Bruce Nemerov, the Center’s Audio Specialist. The sound recordings encompass convention years 1967-1979 and 1983-1988. Audio logs are located in a separate notebook in the CPM Reading Room. They are arranged chronologically.

This collection compliments the Bill Harrison Collection, providing relevant and detailed documentation of music festivals, especially the TVOTFC.

Location

Manuscript materials, photographs, and photocopies of newspapers are located among the Manuscripts by accession number. Programs are located in the Performance Documents collection, searchable by accession number in the database. Periodicals have been dispersed and are in the secondary serials in the stacks. Sound recordings are shelved by accession number with other manuscript audio materials.

For the Crosswhite Collection of Manuscripts and Sound Recordings including performance programs, newspapers, correspondence, photographs, serials, trade catalogs, personal papers, and manuscript sound recordings, please see the addendum to the Bill Harrison Collection, accession number 97-050. A separate folder containing a detailed inventory description of the Bill Harrison Collection is located in the reading room above the vertical files.

Related Materials

This collection is an addendum to the Bill Harrison Collection accessible by accession number in the Center’s database under various collection categories. The Center also maintains books, periodicals, manuscripts, performance documents, and sound recordings relating to fiddle music and festivals.